Ergonomics Awareness Education

For employees and supervisors

By the end of this presentation you will be able to:

Define ergonomics and its benefits

Identify parts of the body that get injured at work

Identify work activities that can lead to injury

By the end of this presentation you will be able to:

List examples of ergonomic principles that reduce risk of injury

Participate in your company’s ergonomic efforts

Recognize and report signs and symptoms of injury early

Introduction

Definition of ergonomics

Benefits of ergonomics

You can play an important part

You can help:

– Find any problems in your job

– Find solutions to these problems

– Make sure the solutions work

Ergonomics…

…is the science and practice of designing jobs and workplaces to match the capabilities and limitations of the human body.

Ergonomics means “fitting the job to the worker”

Risk of injury - Heavy lifting Cart reduces risk

Ergonomics at Work

Benefits of ergonomics

Ergonomics helps to prevent injuries

Ergonomics has other benefits– Improved quality of work

– Improved quality of life

– Reduced fatigue and discomfort

Injuries and risk factors

What are WWork-related MMusculo-SSkeletal DDisorders (WMSDsWMSDs)?

Common types and symptoms of injury

Causes and prevention of injury

What are Work-related Musculo-Skeletal Disorders (WMSDs)?

WMSDs are also known as:– Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTDs)– Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs)– Overuse injuries

They are soft tissue injuries

which occur gradually

WMSDs are occupational disorders of the soft tissues:

• muscles

• tendons

• ligaments

• joints

• blood vessels

• nerves

WMSDs

What causes WMSDs?

– Heavy, Frequent, or Awkward Lifting

– Pushing, Pulling or Carrying Loads

– Working in Awkward Postures

– Hand Intensive Work

Risk Factors

Risk of injury depends upon:

– Duration of exposure

– Frequency of exposure

– Intensity of exposure

– Combinations of risk factors

Duration

Duration – You usually need hours of exposure before risk factors become a concern

Exposure can be all at one time or cumulative over the day

Frequency

Frequency is often a concern in: assembly tasks sorting tasks loading or off-loading materials inventorying products product stocking software programming telemarketing customer service

Intensity

Intensity refers to:

weight in pounds of items lifted or carried

grip or pinch force of lifted or manipulated items

vibration level (meters/second2)

force on keys when typing

Combinations of risk factors

Exposure to more than one risk factor at a time greatly increases the risk of injury.

For example:– Bending and twisting while lifting– Repetitive, forceful use of the hands with the wrists

bent

Risk factors for WMSDs

Heavy, frequent or awkward lifting

Heavy lifting

Frequent lifting

Lifting more than twice per minute

Awkward liftingLifting above the shoulders, below the knees,

or at arms’ length

Alternatives to lifting

• Use carts, hand trucks, hoists, conveyors or other mechanical assistance

• Slide objects instead of lifting them

• Store heavy items where you won’t have to bend or reach to lift them

• Use ladders to get items down from high shelves

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing heavy lifting

Mechanical assistance

Height-adjustable platform allows heavy box to be slid across

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing awkward lifting

Mini-pallet for hand truck

Allows hand truck to slide under stack of bins without having to restack them

Risk factors for WMSDs

Awkward postures

Neutral Posture – The opposite of awkward posture

Standing neutral posture Seated neutral posture

Awkward postures happen when the work is:

Too low

Too high

Too far away

Awkward Postures - Low workBending

KneelingSquatting

These postures are hard on the back and the knees

Reducing low work

Raise and/or tilt the work for better access

Use a stool for ground level work

Use tools with longer handles

Alternate between bending, kneeling, sitting, and squatting

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing low work

Raise and tilt the work

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing low work

Raise the work

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing low work

Meter reader – golf club handle extension

Awkward Postures - High work

This posture is hard on the shoulders, neck and back

Use an elevated work platform or rolling stairs

Use tools with longer handles

Limit overhead storage to infrequently used items

Bring the work down and tilt for easier access

Reducing high work

Use a tool with longer handles

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing high work

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing high work

Fixture lift for overhead installations

Awkward Postures - Reaching

This posture is hard on the arms, shoulders, and back

Keep items within close reach (design reach distance for the shortest worker)

Remove obstacles

Use gravity feed racks

Reducing Reaching

Tilt table for sanding

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing reaching

Risk factors for WMSDs

Hand Intensive Work

Repetitive motions Gripping Pinching Bent wrists

Hand Intensive Work

Hand Intensive Work – Highly repetitive motion

Reducing repetition

Arrange work to avoid unnecessary motions

Let power tools and machinery do the work

Spread repetitive work out during the day

Take stretch pauses

Rotate task with co-workers if possible

Change hands or motions frequently

Use power tools

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing repetition

Hand Intensive Work – Gripping and Pinching

A power grip is 5 times stronger than a pinch grip

=

Hand Intensive Work – Gripping

Hand Intensive Work – Pinching with the fingertips

Other factors

Your grip strength decreases when you:

• Bend your wrists

• Pick up slippery items

• Wear poorly fitting gloves

• Have cold hands

Reduce grip force

Grip with the whole hand, not just the fingertips

Pick up smaller loads

Use carts or handtrucks instead of carrying

Keep tools in good working order

Use lighter tools or tool balancers

Use two hands

Keep your wrists straight

Avoid pinch grips

Pick objects up from the bottom using whole hand

Attach handles or use lift tools

Build up handles on small tools to reduce grip force

Use clamps to hold onto work

Place items on carts rather than carrying them

Put down a tool when not actually using it

Avoid holding onto objects for long periods

Tool Balancer

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing gripping

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing gripping

Use a clamp or vise to hold parts

Change pinching to gripping

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing pinching

Add-on handle also reduces bending to pick up pots

Hand Intensive Work – Bent Wrists

Tool use example

Working with bent wrists decreases grip strength

Use tools that let you keep your wrist straight

Re-orient the work

Ergonomics at Work - Reducing bent wrists

Risk of injury goes up as you combine factors

Repetition +Gripping or Pinching +

Bent wrists

Repetition +Gripping or Pinching

Repetition

Ris

k

Hand Intensive Work – Combinations

Intensive keying

Reducing intensive keying

Use macros for common functions

Spread keyboard work throughout the day

Take stretch pauses

Improve your posture and move around as much as possible

Risk factors for WMSDs

Vibration

Vibration

Moderate vibration High vibration

Reducing vibration

Use low vibration tools if available

Maintain tools

Use anti-vibration gloves or tool wraps

Keep hands warm

Risk factors for WMSDs

Repeated impactsRepeated impacts

Repeated impacts

Using the hand or knee as a hammer

Avoiding repeated impacts

Use tools instead of your hand or knee

What you can do:

Recognize and report symptoms

Get involved in ergonomics

What are some of the symptoms of WMSDs?

Discomfort

Pain

Numbness

Tingling

Burning

Swelling

Change in color Tightness, loss of

flexibility

Recognize and report symptoms

Report symptoms if:

– Pain is persistent, severe or worsening

– Pain radiates

– Symptoms include numbness or tingling

– Symptoms keep you from sleeping at night

Why is it important to report symptoms?

Minor injuries can easily become chronic injuries and can sometimes lead to disability, even surgery

Early treatment is more successful

Getting involved Look at jobs

Come up with solutions

Work with solutions

Take part in training

Take responsibility for changing the way you do your job

Help to make sure efforts are successful

Five key points to remember

1. Ergonomics can help you on your job

2. WMSDs can happen in jobs with risk factors

3. Risk factors can be reduced and WMSDs prevented

4. Reporting symptoms early is important

5. You can help your company put ergonomics changes into place

Other versions of this training

An on-line video of this training is available at:http://www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/TrainTools/Videos/Library/catalog.asp?VideoID=V0924

You can also check out a DVD of the awareness education from our video library:

http://www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/TrainTools/Videos/Library/default.asp

A humorous version of the video is also on YouTube – www.youtube.com (search for Dr. Ergo)